Dr. Dre

Turning the Screw: D. Rose, Rap City, Beastie Boys, Marilyn Manson, Paris, Lil Kim, Ice Cube and More

Snoop Dogg

Saturday, June 8

Turning the Screw: B L A C K I E, Dizzee Rascal, X-Clan & Bun B, Eminem, Pitbull, T.I., Common, Snoop Dogg and More

Welcome back to Turning the Screw, Rocks Off's weekly rap post. It probably won't rhyme, at least most of the time. E-mail tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. Thanks, homies. Single of the Week: B L A C K I E, "I Write On Money" Wire To Wire Dizzee Rascal was released from custody following ... More >>

Houston, Texas, America, Meet Huntzville...and Watch the Eff Out

Hard to believe it's been 20 years since gangsta rap went overground with N.W.A.'s Straight Outta Compton. Through Dr Dre and Snoop Dogg to Tupac and Eminem, it launched most of hip-hop's biggest stars for a good decade, but these days even artists like T.I. and Lil Wayne have sacrificed serious st ... More >>

Turning the Screw: Dustin Prestige, Lupe Fiasco, Katy Perry/Travis McCoy, Dr. Dre, DJ AM, Lil' Kim, Damon Dash/Jay-Z, Talib Kweli and More

Welcome back to Turning the Screw, Rocks Off's weekly rap post. It probably won't rhyme, at least most of the time. E-mail tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. Thanks, homies. Single of the Week: "Funny Valentine," Dustin Prestige Wire To Wire Lupe Fiasco, whom you'll remember recently announ ... More >>

A Few Rejected Inaugural Ball Theme Songs

Eminem feat. Dr. Dre & 50 Cent, "Crack A Bottle" The Good: Many bottles will be popped during tonight's festivities, we imagine, if not quite as many models. Also, the ongoing partnerships between this trio of rap titans says something about the present state of race relations in this country, ... More >>

Rotation

Eminem feat. Dr. Dre & 50 Cent, "Crack A Bottle" The Good: Many bottles will be popped during tonight's festivities, we imagine, if not quite as many models. Also, the ongoing partnerships between this trio of rap titans says something about the present state of race relations in this country, ... More >>

Rotation

Eminem feat. Dr. Dre & 50 Cent, "Crack A Bottle" The Good: Many bottles will be popped during tonight's festivities, we imagine, if not quite as many models. Also, the ongoing partnerships between this trio of rap titans says something about the present state of race relations in this country, ... More >>

Rotation

Eminem feat. Dr. Dre & 50 Cent, "Crack A Bottle" The Good: Many bottles will be popped during tonight's festivities, we imagine, if not quite as many models. Also, the ongoing partnerships between this trio of rap titans says something about the present state of race relations in this country, ... More >>

Riding the Rap

A new book chronicles the bloody rise and fall of Death Row Records

The Game

A new book chronicles the bloody rise and fall of Death Row Records

K-Otix / The ARE

The Black Album (Self-distributed) / K-Otix Entertainment Presents the ARE: Hustler's Theme (Self-distributed)

Glazed Tracks

This sweet party is Dee place to be

Blog Critics' Greatest Rap CDs List

More of the same

Devin the Dude

Devin the Dude performs Sunday, April 29, at Bar Rio, 6400 Richmond, 832-251-9600.

Snoop Dogg

Tha Blue Carpet Treatment

The Game

Doctor's Advocate

El Presidente

El Presidente

Murder by Numbers

Mourning the latest hip-hop casualty in two easy steps

It's In The Cards

The Nick-and-Jessica split, tarot-style

Hip-hop, Year Two AJ

Still no Jigga, but Kanye, some lovable limeys and a great Beyoncé substitute held it down

Boyz N the Studio

Hustle & Flow is short on action, long on scenes of recording

Rotation

Hustle & Flow is short on action, long on scenes of recording

Best Jukebox

Hustle & Flow is short on action, long on scenes of recording

Compton's (Back) N the House

Four discs trace the development of the original gangstas

Lean & Mean

Those who drink codeine syrup call it lean because of its most obvious effect: a loss of coordination. Those who study the drug call it liquid crack. Those who abuse it can wind up dead.

Accordion Corleone

Those who drink codeine syrup call it lean because of its most obvious effect: a loss of coordination. Those who study the drug call it liquid crack. Those who abuse it can wind up dead.

Turning the Screw: Flatline & Trae, Eminem, T.I., Jay-Z, Nas & Kelis, The Kanye, Danger Mouse, Devin the Dude and More

Welcome back to Turning the Screw, Rocks Off's weekly rap post. It probably won't rhyme, at least most of the time. E-mail tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. Thanks, homies. Single of the Week: Flatline feat. Trae, "Fuckin' With Texas" Wire To Wire Eminem says he's the reason for the Chinese Demo ... More >>

Eminem: Relapse

Welcome back to Turning the Screw, Rocks Off's weekly rap post. It probably won't rhyme, at least most of the time. E-mail tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. Thanks, homies. Single of the Week: Flatline feat. Trae, "Fuckin' With Texas" Wire To Wire Eminem says he's the reason for the Chinese Demo ... More >>

Pink Floyd, Dr. Dre, Velvet Underground and Other Artists We're Glad Discovered Drugs

It was 45 years ago this past Friday... that Bob Dylan met the Beatles for the first time and, more importantly for Rocks Off's purposes, introduced them to marijuana. While this meeting of musical titans would never lead to any actual musical collaboration or "Monsters of Hippie Rock" series of co ... More >>

Turning The Screw: New Hollywood F.L.O.S.S. Track, Mixtapes Galore, Kid Cudi, LeBron, Diddy, Weezy, Sade, Pink and More

Welcome back to Turning the Screw, Rocks Off's weekly rap post. It probably won't rhyme, at least most of the time. E-mail tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. Thanks, homies. ​ Single of the Week: "She Said...," Hollywood F.L.O.S.S. Wire To Wire Slim Thug released that Welcome 2 Texas mixtape. Do ... More >>

Turning The Screw: All the Way, Z-Ro, Devin, Lil' O, UGK, Nicki Minaj, Ras Kass, Lil Wayne, Beyonce, Dre, Aziz Ansari, Wu-Massacre and More

Welcome back to Turning the Screw, Rocks Off's weekly rap post. It probably won't rhyme, at least most of the time. E-mail tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. Thanks, homies. Single of the Week: "Bring The Kush Back Freestyle," ATW Attn: Houston's Underground Rappers: You are on notice. These two ... More >>

5 Rappers Who Dissed The Radio, Sucka!

​ "Radio - suckers never play me" - Public Enemy, "Rebel Without a Pause" Eazy-E once walked up to legendary disc jockey Greg Mack and asked him what he could do to make his music radio-ready. Mack's reply? "Well, you could start by cleaning up the lyrics." Ever the savvy businessman, Eazy returne ... More >>

Top 5 Rapper "Secret" Identities

Rocks Off wonders what hip-hop would look like if rappers were true to who they really are, or should we say... who they were. Perhaps it would look like the video "Swagger Wagon," by The Sienna Family, the latest Internet phenomenon that has amassed 2.4 million hits in less than a month. Those G's ... More >>

Girl Talk Toilet Paper Mash-Ups Balloons = Party!

Marc Brubaker​ Aftermath didn't think it was possible to up the ante any more at this year's Summerfest until Girl Talk took the stage Saturday night. In our estimation, it was the biggest and baddest Summerfest party to date. We might even venture to say that achieved the biggest and baddest summ ... More >>

Two Star Symphony Talks KTRU, Silent Films, Dr. Dre And Minor Threat

Two Star Symphony on Facebook​This week Rocks Off got a hot tip from our pal Jason that the venerable Two Star Symphony would be playing an evening gig out in Houston's western territories. It had been a good while since we'd seen the local string quartet, and with our Spidey Sense tingling ab ... More >>

Remember Nosaprise's Horse Shoes and Hand Grenades?

Houston's history is dotted with albums that, fairly or un, have been swept aside. We'll examine them here. Have an album that you think nobody knows about but should? Email sheaserrano@gmail.com. Nosaprise Horse Shoes and Hand Grenades (self-released, 2010) ​For a while, it appeared that th ... More >>

The Most Anticipated Albums Of 2011

​NATIONAL White Lies, Ritual: They killed at festivals in 2008 and 2009, but do London's Interpol-styled lads have longevity? Dr. Dre, Detox: It's been on hold or gestating since at least Clinton was in office. Will it continue to be hip-hop's Chinese Democracy? R.E.M., Collapse Into No ... More >>

Five Songs That Huck Finn Guy Should Censor Next

gutenberg.org​As many of you probably already know, Alabama publisher NewSouth Inc. plans to release censored versions of Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, replacing the words "nigger" and "Injun" with "slave" and "Indian," respectively. That's ... More >>

Five Terrible Rap Acts Who Will Never Crack the "Diddy List"

The Super Broker Shuffle: Your eyes and ears will never forgive you​I'm a sucker for lists, I've said that before. If it makes me a less cerebral person, so be it. I'm not apologizing. For a "list addict" like myself, Forbes magazine is like a big plate of list cocaine. They'll come up with a ... More >>

Nate Dogg's Seven Best Hooks Besides "Regulate"

​Hip-hop lost a genius late Tuesday, when Nate Dogg passed away from causes unknown in Long Beach, Calif. Maybe the man upstairs needed this OG, who was 41 and had suffered strokes in 2007 and '08, to sing hooks in the choir. Meanwhile, Nate's work here on Earth will live on in hip-hop histor ... More >>

Rockin' In Plain Sight: Our Favorite Hidden Album Tracks

​In the days when compact discs and tapes ruled the world, hidden tracks on albums were like secret gifts from your favorite bands. Off the liner notes, not in the original track listings, and totally unassuming, sometimes tucked away after minutes and minutes of silence on a disc. With the ... More >>

Saturday Night: Rusko At Warehouse Live

Photos by Jody Perry​Rusko, Doorly Warehouse Live May 7, 2011 See more young local dubsteppers from Saturday in our slideshow. As any cranky old scenester will tell you, there comes a time when you feel that your favorite underground and underappreciated art form has been co-opted and corrup ... More >>

Eminem Vs. Gaga; Nicki Minaj Vs. Britney: Who Wins?

The hip-hop world is a less than sensible place - lots of times, you're even required to clarify when bad means bad and when bad means good - so once a week we're going to get with a rapper and ask them to explain things. Something you always wanted to ask a rapper? Email sheaserrano@gmail.com.  ... More >>

The 25 Most Influential Music Videos Of All Time

​It's hard to fathom a time before music videos, and it's even sadder to remember when channels like MTV and VH1 were wall-to-wall music videos. In between there was a golden age, when with every clip that you watched could spark a revolution in you, or at least change your fashion sense. It's ... More >>

Top 5 Weed-Inspired Album Titles

​Moments ago, actually earlier this afternoon now, Rocks Off opened an envelope from Universal Music that turned out to contain young No Limit-affiliated rapper Curren$y's major-label debut, Weekend at Burnie's (Warner Bros.). We'll give you three guesses what the New Orleans native's primary ... More >>

Forrest Gump & Other "Generation-Defining" Soundtracks

​The Forrest Gump soundtrack debuted on June 28, 1994, a week ahead of the film itself, which would go on to smash box-office records, win numerous awards and become one of the most beloved movies of the past 20 years. It is still endlessly quotable, emotional, and entertaining, and the soundt ... More >>

10 Rappers As Movie Villains

​Cunning criminals, violent geniuses, charismatic characters. Villains give us chills and keep us on the edge of our seats. With more rappers now dabbling in acting, we decided to cast some of your favorite hip-hoppers as movie villains. Here are ten rappers and their evil alter-egos.

Tori, Tool, TLC And The Other Musical Debuts Of 1992

​1992 was a pretty heady year for music in general, with the masses gobbling up all the gangsta rap, grunge, and pop-country they could. That year would see the release of not only R.E.M.'s Automatic For The People, Peter Gabriel's Us, Pantera's Vulgar Display Of Power, but also what is arguab ... More >>

Beats By Dre, Monster Headphones To Split

GizmodoDr. Dre At CES 2008 Premiering Beats By Dre​Well time to pass the tissue to those of you who love walking through IAH or Hobby with $200 headphones around your head like a fashion statement. In news more likely to occur than Dr. Dre's Detox album, Monster has announced that it will no longe ... More >>